The Bay State League high school baseball game between Braintree and Norwood on Wednesday afternoon was going according to script through the first eight innings.

The wooden bats used by both teams didn’t generate much extra base hits as Braintree held a 4-3 lead entering the last inning behind some strong pitching and its small-ball offensive approach.

Norwood flipped the script in the top of the ninth when it took the lead on a no-doubt, two-run homer, but Braintree (3-1) battled back in the bottom of the frame, capped by Gino LaRossa’s sacrifice fly that scored two runs when the throw home sailed into the Braintree dugout, giving the Wamps a dramatic, 6-5 walk-off win.

“That’s a great ballclub,” said Braintree coach Bill O’Connell. “We got some great pitching early on and some timely hitting, but their kid just hit a bomb.”

The blast came just a few pitches after the leadoff batter reached on a slow roller that was misplayed at first base. Bobby McNiff, who earned the win after pitching the final three innings, brushed off the homer and escaped the inning with no further damage.

“Bobby is only a sophomore,” noted O’Connell. “Ya, he gave up the home run, but the key was that he got out of the inning only down 5-4 and gave us a chance to win.”

Matt Bickford, who pitched the first six innings for Braintree, allowing just two earned runs, began the rally in the bottom of the ninth when he legged out an infield single. Steve Lee followed with a single to right field and Adam Chin worked a walk to load the bases.

Up stepped LaRossa who thought he had tied the game when he lifted a deep fly ball to right field, but he did more than just tie it. The throw back to the infield was off-line and rolled all the way inside the Braintree dugout, allowing Lee to score from second with the winning run.

“We were just hoping to get the lead guy on,” said O’Connell of his team’s approach in the ninth. “Bickford did a great job of getting that infield single and Stevey Lee is one of the best hitters in the league and the best hitter on our team, so I didn’t want to take the bat out of his hands. I let him hit and it paid off.”

Braintree scraped together the win despite having just one extra-base hit, a double by Billy Keane in the third inning. The lack of pop didn’t come as a surprise to O’Connell, who knows that his roster is better suited to play small ball.

“That’s Bay State League baseball with the wood bats,” he said. ‘That’s who we are. We’re a small-ball team and we’re going to try to win a low scoring game. We spend a lot of time on the bunts and the steals and our defense.”

Page 2 of 2 - The Wamps scored three runs in the fourth inning without ever hitting the ball out of the infield. Pat Harrocks began the inning with a walk and Connor Columbus was hit by a pitch a few pitches later. Alex Alexander tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but everybody was safe when Norwood’s attempt to cut down the lead runner failed. Harrocks and Columbus scored on consecutive wild pitches and Keane drove in the third run of the inning when he grounded to short and Norwood’s attempt to throw Alexander out at the plate was late.

“You don’t see too many home runs hit here,” O’Connell said. “We’re a small-ball team and these are the types of games we play.”